Abstract:
Our list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America begins with a search for companies that show both sales and earnings growth. Candidates must have annual revenue between $5 million and $750 million, be publicly traded for at least a year and have a stock price no lower than $5. Rankings are based on earnings growth, sales growth and return on equity in the past 12 months and over five years; we dropped companies with fuzzy accounting or looming legal troubles. We also compared the stock performance of each company with that of its peers. Shares of last year's list members outpaced the Russell by 10 percentage points.

8. NVE (www.nve.com)

This Eden Prairie, Minn. company uses nanotechnology to make miniature sensors (some weighing less than a mosquito) for medical devices. The smallest member of our list, with sales of $25 million, is also one of the most profitable, with a net margin of 43%.